Conventional marine coatings have several disadvantages. One such disadvantage is that conventional coatings typically contain components that are toxic to marine life and humans. This is particularly problematic where there is significant interaction between human development and sensitive wildlife areas. Conventional solutions have attempted to substitute one or more toxic components with non-toxic or less toxic components. Conventional coatings still include one or more environmentally problematic or toxic components. One conventional coating formulation incorporates barium metaborate as a bactericide and fungicide as well as a marine organism irritant. However, barium metaborate, while less toxic than many other anti-corrosives, is considered a hazardous material in production and application. The exotoxicity of barium metaborate is a disadvantage of such a conventional coating formulation.
Another aspect of such a conventional coating formulation is an attempt to reduce the ability of marine organisms to adhere to the coating by incorporating an adhesion reduction component that is non-toxic and biodegradable. However, the adhesion reduction component of such a conventional coating formulation is too viscous and not sufficiently homogenous. The adhesion reduction component cannot adhere to other components of the coating and does not provide non-stick properties as intended.